Health Care Lobbyists' Rise to Power

Follow The Money: There are 3,000 Health Care Lobbyists on Capitol Hill -- and Many are Former Congress Members or Staffers

(CBS)  The pharmaceutical industry is putting its army of lobbyists into overdrive as Congress works to complete a health care reform bill.

There are 3,000 registered health care lobbyists on Capitol Hill -- that's six for every single member of Congress. And in many cases, those lobbyists are former members of Congress who shaped laws that benefitted the industry they joined.

The so-called "revolving door" is perfectly legal, CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports. Yet it leads critics to ask whether some who are supposed to be watching out for taxpayers have other interests.

In 2003, the pharmaceutical industry got a multi-billion dollar windfall with Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage for seniors. Congressman Billy Tauzin, and Senators John Breaux and Don Nickles each held key roles in passing or shaping Part D. All three then left their government jobs and became lobbyists for the pharmaceutical industry.

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Tauzin reportedly earns a $2 million salary to head up the biggest pharmaceutical lobby group: PhRMA. Breaux and Nickles have started lobby firms that are each pulling in six figures from the drug industry.

"There was sort of a mass exodus of members of Congress and staffers to go work for either pharma or pharmacutical companies," said Olga Pierce of ProPublica.

The non-profit journalism group ProPublica has found 27 former members of Congress and staffers who were major players in Part D and are now working for the pharmaceutical industry on health care reform. The revolving door is dizzying.

Lobbyist John McManus worked for Eli Lilly, became a House staffer where he was "chief staff architect" of Medicare Part D. Now he lobbies for the drug industry.

Lobbyist Michelle Easton worked on Part D in the Senate, became a vice president of PhRMA, went back to the Senate as a staffer, and now lobbies for PhRMA.

One Congressional staffer who made the leap to the pharmaceutical industry after Medicare Part D told CBS News: "every time a major bill passes, there is an exodus of Hill staffers... People are willing to pay a premium for (their) knowledge ... As long as ... ethics laws and rules are followed, why shouldn't they have that opportunity?"

It's worked out nicely for the pharmaceutical industry. It's spent at least $18 million lobbying Congress on health care reform and, so far, has fought off two proposals that would cost it billions: allowing cheaper drugs to be imported from Canada, and lowering drug prices for some Medicare patients.

No one we mentioned in this story would agree to an interview. In 2007, Tauzin told Steve Kroft of "60 Minutes" that he joined PhRMA after drugs cured him of cancer - not because he'd worked on Medicare Part D.

Kroft:A short time later, you go to work for the drug lobby at a salary of $2 million.

Mr. Tauzin: There's nothing I could have done in my life after leaving Congress that wouldn't have had -- I didn't have some impact on in 25 years in Congress. If that looks bad to you, have at it. That's the truth.

A so-called "cooling off period" hasn't slowed the revolving door: ex-members of Congress and top staffers are required to sit out for one to two years before lobbying former colleagues. Some have gotten around that by entering the lobby world under the title of "advocate" -- and advising others how to lobby.

[grumpy78]

Not one of the 3000 lobbyists or advisers has a vote in Congress!
If there is a problem it is with the members of Congress, all of whom DO have a vote.
If votes are bought and sold we should be concerned with the criminals who sell their votes or "access".

[chonder2]

At election time you have 1 vote, the CEO of Mega Corp has 1 vote...plus 30 lobbists in Washington 24/7.How much representation do you really have?How entwined does the Ledgeslative/Corporate relationship have to get before you can't tell which is which?It's already happened.

WE NEED CAMPAIGN FINANCE AND LOBBY REFORM NOW!

[thincaboutit]

If the battle over healthcare reform is making you sick to your stomach, this musical parody is just what the doctor ordered! Check out ?Healthcare Fighting (Kung Fu Mix)? at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nc1VwJOb9Y

[endurorob_5]

imprisoncheney October 21, 2009 6:47 AM EDT

Why is it, that our elected reps have to be bribed to do their job???


Actually they are being bribed not to do their job. Their job is to work for the "people" of this country not whatever special interest group has their ear or deposit slip to their off shore bank account.

[fiberglass3]

What needs reform is our policy regarding lobbyists. If our elected representatives aren't looking out for us, who is??

Look to the industries that are spending the most on lobbyists in Washington. The Insurance Industry, Oil Industry, Pharmaceutical Industry and the Banking Industry. If they can spread all that money around to influence politicians then I'll bet we are being overcharged.

[imprisoncheney]

And we criticize other countries for being corrupt . . .

Why is it, that our elected reps have to be bribed to do their job???

It's the same warped, obscene thinking that permeates every sector of society and the economy -- that's the justification that the suits on WS give for their "bonuses" -- that they're incentives to do a "better" job . . . yeah, right.

As for publicly financed elections, how about adopting the UK's method of campaigning and limit the period to 3 weeks, instead of 2 f.ing years?! That would eliminate the need for so much money and torturing of the electorate with those godawful ads and phone calls.

Also, banning tv ads altogether (like they do tobacco products) would help out a lot, too.

[localinlasvegas]

I am a resident of las vegas and i am living in the philippines 11 months of the year i had health insurance but had to get rid of it cause it cost me over a thousand dollars a month i get good health care here in the philippines and the doctor charges me just 4 dollars a vist why cant we do that in the United States Why does every body got to have a piece of the action lobbyist insurancecompany our senators our rep. No wounder why we have the highest in the world. Dont these people get paid by you and me to help us and not the insurance companys and drug companys I just cant believe that i am from the best country in the world and i have to worry about staying healthy cause i wont be able to pay to see a doctor if i do get sick . they dont get paided enough now so what they gonna do run us in debt more and say that it is the one or others fault People wake up its time to say no to them all tell them no more debt

[bobnjersey]

[One Congressional staffer who made the leap to the pharmaceutical industry after Medicare Part D told CBS News: "every time a major bill passes, there is an exodus of Hill staffers... People are willing to pay a premium for (their) knowledge ... As long as ... ethics laws and rules are followed, why shouldn't they have that opportunity?" ]

ethics laws and rules ... are there such things? does this question have to be asked? does there have to be a long winded rule to know what the boundries of ethics are?

it's all about opportunity now? whose opportunity is important here? it's now 'un-ethical' for the electorate to deny a staffer or congressman a chance at a big payoff from a large corporate entity ... a chance to game the system at everyone else's expense?

this statement alone from this staffer shows the trouble we're all in here. this ... as nearly everything else in this country ... has now come down to 'whats in it for me' ... and it's the core ingredient to cook up complete and total disaster ... where the whole thing will come undone ... by the very people who it's suppossed to serve.

it appears that only either a revolution from the people ... or a complete toppling of the system under it's own weight is going to change anything.

who's going to change this ... when all those that have the power to do it are reaping all the rewards from it staying exactly the same as it currently is?

they're all traitors ... all the while they probably think they're patriots!

[sjc_1]

Support Public Money for Public Office. Stop the revolving door of Congress and staff going to work for drug companies after they get bills like Medicare Part D passed. It was one big windfall profit program and those people got rewarded with sweet deals afterward.

If people in Congress know that they are working for the people that pay taxes, they will be less likely to cut deals with the corporations, because those people that do that would never get elected to Congress in the first place with public money offsetting corporate influence.

[ubrew12]

You pay billions of dollars extra for health insurance without added health.

The insurance industry pays those billions to Congress to kill substantive improvements in the healthcare industry.

Congress pays those billions to media companies for television commercials convincing you that even though your Congressmen vote repeatedly against your interests, they still represent your 'values'.

Media companies pay those billions to production companies and actors to convince you that America is a place filled with young healthy adults cavorting on beaches.

This system robs you of money that would actually make you healthier, and gives you back an IMAGE of a healthy America, having fun on the beach. You are giving up your reality for an image of your reality.

And THAT is the 'American Way', circa 2009. Soylent Green can't be far away.

[BeckieBest]

Well said!

[ubrew12]

by Soylent Green I mean the prospect of your gov't feeding you your own dead bodies. You know, through advertising/media, they are already feeding you your 'reality'.

[babooph]

Other nations-named corrupt by the US propaganda system should just make corruption legal LIKE THE US does.Perot knew they were crooked & destroyed democracy-the propaganda system was directed to crusify him for not wanting the corruption to go on -PROPAGANDISTS ARE ALSO LOBBIED!!!!!